Southern Charm Meets a Serious Wine Shelf
Auburn · Auburn · American, Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 9, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Depot’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Walking into a converted train depot in Auburn, Alabama and finding a 100-plus bottle wine list is its own kind of pleasant surprise. The room does the heavy lifting — exposed wood, warm light, the bones of something old and well-kept — and the wine list follows suit. It's not trying to be anything it's not, which is honestly refreshing.
The list leans hard into California and France, which tracks with the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence the restaurant has held since 2016. You've got the reliable hits — Caymus Cabernet, Jordan Cabernet, Stag's Leap — alongside Louis Jadot anchoring the French side. It's not a deep-dive list for geeks, but for a college town in Alabama, the range is genuinely solid. Gaps show up fast if you go looking for anything outside those two regions, but the core is well-chosen and well-stocked.
With 12 to 20 glass pours in the $8–$14 range, the by-the-glass program covers enough ground to satisfy most tables without overwhelming anyone. Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc are likely anchoring the white side, which is crowd-pleasing but reliable. Don't expect a lot of rotation here — this feels like a list that changes seasonally at best.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $75
Jordan punches above its price point almost everywhere it shows up, and at a place like this, it likely lands in a range that doesn't gouge. A dependable, food-friendly Cab that holds its own against the Gulf seafood-heavy menu without breaking the table budget.
Louis Jadot Burgundy
Most tables here are ordering Caymus on autopilot, which means the Jadot is sitting quietly on the list waiting for someone to notice. French Burgundy in an Auburn steakhouse-adjacent setting is an underdog — but with grilled fish or crab cakes, it's the right call.
Meiomi Pinot Noir
Meiomi is fine for what it is, but at restaurant markup it's hard to justify when Jordan and Stag's Leap are sitting on the same list. You're paying upscale prices for a grocery store bottle — just move up the shelf.
Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay + Shrimp and Grits
Sonoma-Cutrer's Russian River Ranches is rich enough to stand up to the cream and butter in shrimp and grits without steamrolling the shrimp. It's a California Chard that actually knows when to back off — and this dish needs exactly that.
The Bottom Line
The Depot isn't reinventing wine culture in Alabama, but it's doing the honest work of maintaining a thoughtful, fairly priced list in a place where that's rarer than it should be. If you're in Auburn and want a real bottle with a real dinner, this is where you go.
Auburn · Auburn · American, Southern American
Acre is the kind of place that makes you reconsider your assumptions about wine in the South — Hammond has built a California-forward list that punches well above its zip code. If you're in or near Auburn and serious about what's in your glass, this is the room.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Auburn · Auburn · Farm to Table, French
Yes, send your friends here — just warn them they're eating in a teaching restaurant first so the surprise doesn't overshadow how good the wine list actually is. For Auburn, Alabama, this program is genuinely remarkable, and it holds its own against fine dining wine lists in much bigger cities.
Solid Range
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
North Fremont / Beachfront · Monterey · American, Seafood
The Lantern Room is what happens when a hotel restaurant actually tries — a locally anchored wine list, a sommelier in the building, and enough interesting producers to make the steep markup sting a little less. Send a friend here if they love Central Coast wine; warn them to skip the Cab and lean into what this coast actually grows.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Scott's Addition · Richmond · American, Seafood
Lillian is the rare spot where the wine list is more ambitious than the address suggests — a focused, France-and-Italy-forward program with legit producers, a knowledgeable floor lead, and bottle prices that don't feel punitive. Send a friend here, tell them to sit at the counter, order oysters, and ask PJ what's open.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
River North · Chicago · American, Seafood
Terrace 16 earns its Wine Spectator badge and delivers a respectable, California-and-France-focused list in one of Chicago's most dramatic dining rooms. Just don't expect to be surprised — the wine is as reliable as the skyline view, and nearly as expensive.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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